“I was really nervous. When I opened my results it took a while to sink in; I’m shocked, happy and relieved,” he said.

“It just goes to show that after 11 years at school, hard work really does pay off.”

Harry Martin from William Parker is happy with his three A*s, four As, two Bs and two Cs and is going onto Ark 6th Form too.

“I was really nervous. I could have done a bit better but I’m happy with my results. I’m looking forward to going to Ark 6th Form,” he said.

Year 11 head Ms Grimmer said she was thrilled Harry has achieved such ‘amazing results’.

Carly Bailey from Helenswood is celebrating with six A*s, two As and a B and said she felt surprised at her results and her sister Lucy is celebrating with five A*s and four As.

Natalie Andrews was ‘pleasantly surprised’ with her results. She is celebrating with two A*s and six As.

Helenswood principal Lucy Monk said: “Once again I am delighted to see so many Helenswood girls achieving such great success in their GCSE exams this summer.

“Their results are testament to the hard work which they and all of the staff have put into their studies over the last five years.

“I would like to wish them every success in the future.

“Yet again Ark Helenswood is the top performing secondary school in town.”

Joel Craig is celebrating with three A*s, four As and three Bs and said: “I’m pretty happy with my results. I can put it down to my teachers support and the extra time they put in with us on revision.”

April Stansfield achieved five A*s and 4 As and plans to go onto Bexhill College.

“I feel relieved as I didn’t know what to expect,” she said.

Another happy pupil was Aaron Hoxey: “I’m happy and feel relieved now I have my results; I am definitely pleased with what I have achieved.

“I would like to go to university and study for a career in either journalism or computer programming.”

William Parker’s Michael Ashdown said: “I’m happy with my results; I deserved them. I felt I could have done a bit better; I will put in maximum effort in future when I go to Ark 6th Form to study subjects which I feel passionate about.

“I really enjoyed biology, as Ms Parsons is a great teacher, and I aim to study business, biology and PE.

“In the future, ideally, I would like to go to university, then get a job I enjoy - possibly a career in medicine or sports science.”

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